Every week, the detail-oriented folks at Green Scene Home Inspections will give Daltxrealestate.com readers an education in inspection. Want to see what they see? Tune in for “Upon Closer Inspection.”
When you find a home that you want to buy, you make an offer to the seller, and if that offer is accepted, you have an “option period.” In Texas, when a home goes under contract, we have a negotiated period of time (usually five to 10 days) in which the buyer can have access to the house to do any further investigation they deem necessary. This is usually where a home inspector comes in.
As part of the contract, the seller will offer a “Seller’s Disclosure,” making note of anything that they’re aware of that needs repair or isn’t functioning properly, as well as any previous major repairs or incidents. Why do you need an inspection if the seller is going to tell you all that? Well, a seller will often miss things that they either forgot or didn’t know about, and not everyone is as honest as one would hope.
This week, we’re looking at things the seller forgot to mention that the home inspector found.
This image is of a pier-and-beam foundation that has had some repair work done. When a pier-and-beam foundation gets out of level, one of the ways to fix it is to raise the piers using this method. There’s nothing inherently wrong here — just the presence of previous foundation work. Work that was not disclosed by the seller, and is good information for a home buyer to have. If there has been previous movement requiring repairs once, there will likely be problems in the future. Something you want to factor into your purchase for future planning.
In this video, the Inspectors found telltale fresh paint near the fireplace and on further investigation found fire damage — a fire that was not disclosed by the seller.
Here, our Inspector climbed up into a hole in the ceiling of the water heater closet and found a dangerous situation that the sellers likely had no idea was happening.
When you’re buying a house — as in many life situations — it’s a good idea to do your own research, and find experts who can help you gather the best possible information so you can make an informed decision.
